Maps of the world, in print
There are several reasons why it is handy, at least for me, to have an atlas. First, as part of my work at MIT I get to interact with people from all over the world, and I like to see on a map the exact place they call home. Second, as part of my role as father of a very curious four-year-old girl, I get to answer many questions about places I visit (“Where is Germany?”), places where her favorite animals live (“Where are the lions?”) and places where we have loved ones (“Where is abuelita’s house?”). Finally, sometimes I just need to know where a place is, either because something is happening there (e.g., South Sudan) or because I heard about it and realized I had no clue where it is.
Old school tactics, new school graphics
One of my earliest memories as a gamer is from the age of 10, playing XCOM: Terror From The Deep (1996). I didn’t own the game — some neighbors did — but when I’d finished my chores (and sometimes when I hadn’t), I’d bike over to their house and hijack their computer for as long as was socially acceptable (and sometimes longer) to fight the alien invasion.
From Bach to the Rolling Stones
When I first looked at the brochure for the Fall Program of Boston Ballet, I was intrigued by the fact that the first piece, Rooster, choreographed by Christopher Bruce, was set entirely to the music of The Rolling Stones in the ’60s.
A glimpse into the world of fashion
“These images are probably the most acute examples of everything I cherish” is how Mario Testino describes his debut museum exhibition in the United States. On display at the MFA, Mario Testino: In Your Face is a collection of 122 photographs drawn from the last 30 years of Testino’s work.
How many MIT students does it take to tame the shrew?
The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble prides itself on keeping a textual interpretation of the classic works while adding a modern twist to keep the plays fresh — and this is certainly true of their latest production, The Taming of the Shrew. The play follows the story of Katherina and Bianca, daughters of the wealthy lord Baptista. Because of Katherina’s shrewish disposition and Bianca’s desirability, Baptista decides that he will only marry off Bianca if Katherina gets a husband first. So begins a crazy journey of deception and false identities: Lucentio, Tranio, and Hortensio compete for Bianca’s hand in marriage, while Petruchio of Verona is the only suitor brave enough to deal with Katherina’s sass.
Six stories, three directors, one Cloud Atlas
Once in a while, a film transcends its medium and stands alone as a work of art. Cloud Atlas is such a masterpiece. Of course there are details that can be critiqued, but it is useless to scrutinize these details because they are insignificant in comparison to the important message the film relays.
The other side of love
In This Is How You Lose Her, Junot Díaz, MIT Professor of Writing, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and recent winner of a MacArthur Genius Grant, speaks on love. We’ve all heard love stories before, so in the strictest sense this book isn’t anything new. A mother’s devotion to her family and love for her children drives her to withstand crippling captivity in fettered domestication; an older brother abuses his family in protest over his own medical decline; a cheater faces the cold, splintering reality that he’s fucked up one too many times and the love of his life is gone for good.
Remembering the days the abyss gazed back
When a reporter mentioned the Cuban missile crisis during a White House briefing, then-press secretary Dana Perino “panicked a bit” because she didn’t know what it was. “It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I’m pretty sure,” she ventured. One day in particular, Oct. 26, 1962 (exactly 50 years ago) was arguably the single most dangerous moment in human history, with the United States and the Soviet Union on the verge of unleashing upon each other thermonuclear Armageddon. Ms. Perino’s candid admission is often depicted as a funny, self-deprecating anecdote. Call me paranoid, but it gave me goose bumps: I think such a pivotal event, and the lessons it taught us, should not be forgotten.
ARCHITECTURE@MIT: More than objects
This is the second of a two-part Q&A series spotlighting two campus pavilion projects designed and built by MIT Master of Architecture students.
Back to the grind
If you played the original Borderlands and liked it enough to do a second playthrough, there is no point in reading this review past the next sentence. Borderlands 2 is worth its cost at $60; it has everything the original has, plus a real plot and an almost seamless co-op multiplayer experience.
ARCHITECTURE@MIT: More than objects
The Kerf Pavilion, unveiled near the Green Building in the beginning of July, has piqued many curious minds on campus. Here, team members Tyler Crain, Brian Hoffer, Chris Mackey, and Dave Miranowski discuss the significance and motivations of their project.
A magnificent visual guide to the universe
The new edition of Universe is nothing short of what it promises. Edited by Astronomer Royal Martin Rees and published for the Smithsonian Institution by DK, the book is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and visually mesmerizing guide to the cosmos and what we know of it. Its 500 pages are divided into three sections: astronomy in general, the cosmos, and the night sky.
Banksy revisited
You know the dull wall of Building E38 (pink, cream, whatever) that runs between MIT Press and Cosi? The other day somebody had the audacity (dare I say, the good heart) to spray-paint two machine guns with barrels curved together in the shape of a heart. When I saw this act of vandalism, I smiled and nodded. For I have learned to appreciate this kind of art. Street art. And it’s thanks to Banksy.
If music is art, are too the instruments?
You may think of a painting as a work of art, but do you ever think of a paintbrush as one? What about music — you may think of musical pieces as works of art, but how do you view musical instruments? Are they just tools, or can they be works of art themselves?
Area Four’s student-friendly lunches
If you’re particular about coffee, you know about Area Four already — their shots are dense, their lattes are tiny and strong, and if, like me, you have a shameful preference for vats of the watery American stuff, they do a great job at that, too.
Closing the loop
Despite the fact that Looper’s entire premise is time travel, it’s not your typical sci-fi film. It is hard to give a summary of the film without unraveling the plot, which speaks to how intricate the storyline is. Without giving too much away, the film centers on Joe (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is meant to kill his future self (played by Bruce Willis). Little does he know that his future self has a plan of his own to both stay alive and prevent future events.
Engineering miracles and unsung heroes: A guide to Mars exploration
By now you must have heard about Curiosity, NASA’s latest robotic ambassador to Mars. It has been making headlines for weeks, first with its nail-biting landing sequence, fit for a sci-fi movie, and more recently with its discovery of evidence of streaming water in the Martian past. Curiosity is the stuff geeks dream about: a largely autonomous laboratory on wheels, the size of a small car and loaded to the brim with the most sophisticated science equipment ever sent to another world.
Choose your own adventure, college edition
Many of us have fond memories of time we spent in our younger years thumbing through choose-your-own-adventure books. These novels, now known as gamebooks, were exciting because the reader was responsible for the choices the character made and could spend time exploring different choices and story paths. Zach Weinersmith, creator of popular web comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC), recreates and innovates upon this magic for an older (though not necessarily more mature) audience in the spacefaring adventure Trial of the Clone.
Art, and the age of man
If you have not yet been to Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, now is the time to go. Thanks to street artist Swoon (Caledonia Curry), the ICA, or at least part of it, is temporarily festive. Swoon installed Anthropocene Extinction in its lobby just over a year ago, and the effect is still as refreshing as ever.
Finding friends in robots
Frank is enraged by the idea of having a robot nanny; a particularly hilarious scene in the movie is full of cursing and dramatic quips about killing robots. To be clear, this movie is not The Terminator or I, Robot, where robots gain artificial intelligence and revolt against their human makers. Rather, Robot & Frank follows the arc of the friendship between Frank and the robot — if you can even call it friendship at all, since technically the robot cannot feel — and the heart of this movie is about a family’s difficulty identifying and responding to an aging parent. The film’s main conflict, similar to other Sundance Film Festival winners, is rooted in human folly.